Chocolat
by Joanne Harris
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Read in February, 2007
The first is Chocolat by Joanne Harris. This book was given to me by Rebecca at our book club Christmas party book exchange. I was very excited to get it because I have been wanting to read it for a long time. I am a Francophile (I think that's the word) I love all things French. I took French in High School and at BYU. I have always wanted to go to France. I like French food. You get the idea. This book was a great armchair travel book. It takes place in a small village in France. It is filled ...more
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Driven by the changing wing and fear of the Black Men Vianne Rocher (one of her many names), has wandered for years. But when her little daughter Anouk urges her to stay in a little provincial French town, she opens up a chocolaterie across from the church in the middle of Lent – and sparks a war with the curé. With her knack for guessing everyone’s favorites and sensing other’ emotions, Vianne offers sweet indulgence and a new, unconventional way of solving problems – because for Viann...more
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I adored the film. It's one of my favorites. So, when I discovered that it was based on a book, I had to read it. And, it's not a bad book. The film adaptation is quite different, although many of the characters are the same. For instance, in the book, Reynaud is the priest not the mayor and Caroline Clairmont is not a widow working for him. Armande is still feisty and Guillaume sweet. Josephine also appears prominently. Roux was far more appealing on screen: I wonder why? ;)
There i...more
There i...more
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I loved the movie...but I didn't enjoy the book. Actually, I didn't finish it either because I just wasn't enjoying it. Too many details had been changed from the movie and what really bothered me was the priest. I'm certainly not denying that priests/religious figures have their problems or are total hypocrites and I'm not denying that many horrible things have been done in the name of religion BUT I am tired of reading books where the evil character is the religious leader. Inevitably the ...more
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Read in April, 2008
Very good book. A delight to read. I read this because it is currently featured on the "Wake Reads Together" program through our county library system. I saw the movie years ago when it first came out. I throughly enjoyed both, though some of the characters are portrayed differently. In both, Vianne, the main character is my favorite; she brings life into the small town of Lansquenet. She opens a small chocolaterie on the square which evokes heavy criticism from pious churchgoing folk ...more
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Read in March, 2008
Like most people I saw the movie first and then found out that it was an adaptation from a book, like most good movies are, and I quickly picked it up and devoured it...like chocolate you might say. With very few exceptions, the book is always better than the movie. You find that everyone has secrets, and that a small shop facing an oppressively massive church can succeed. A newcomer can be a catalyst of change, especially one who is a free-thinking, independent woman with a child whose father i...more
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Read in December, 2005
recommends it for:
Stories of life, food, and conflict
This is a powerful book, very evocative of the sights, smells and sounds of France and its food, especially chocolate! I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and had to force myself to slow down! I watched the movie afterwards, which did not do justice to the novel at all. It changed the menace from being the catholic priest to the mayor of the town, which destroyed any power that the movie could have had and instead, made it twee. The movie director inserted parts in the plot that were not in the nove...more
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Read in February, 2008
When I saw the movie I was enchanted but now that I've read the book, I feel sad about the movie's shallowness. The book is rich and deep, like Valrhona 85% cacao from Trader Joe's. It's another mother-daughter book, about intuitions, guilt, love between generations, building an intentional family if not a blood line one. In this book the French church is the antagonist, with a bow to Joan of Arc, not the aristo. The characters are not the same, Johnny Depp not there, Roux has a different, more ...more
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Read in June, 2007
I loved this book. I had already seen the movie, (which I also loved), but the book was so much richer! This is a magical story, which deals with the themes of acceptance, of religious (and personal) freedom, of loyalty. It addresses the loneliness of being "different", and of following ones calling. Vianne is one of the most real characters I have ever encountered, despite the fact that she may very well be a witch. She is truly human in her fallibility, yet noble in her ethical ...more
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Read in April, 2008
This is my book club's book for April. I liked it. It's a quick read, so lyrical it's like poetry, and enough of a mystery and suspense to keep my interested. (Plus, it made me hungry for chocolate.)
I liked how the protagonist and antagonist stayed true throughout. Neither one wavers or changes, where all the characters around them are affected. I loved the mystery elements too. And I loved how the priest is so sympathetic while also just so...wrong. Evil, even, but in the way that pe...more
I liked how the protagonist and antagonist stayed true throughout. Neither one wavers or changes, where all the characters around them are affected. I loved the mystery elements too. And I loved how the priest is so sympathetic while also just so...wrong. Evil, even, but in the way that pe...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone looking for a tasty morsel.
Chocolat was as beautiful, smooth and bittersweet as a perfect handcrafted chocolate. The language of the book was a perfect balance of sweet and pretty, dark and truthful, which made reading it for the sake of reading (as one does with poetry) absolutely delicious. The story was good as well. It was an honest story line that didn't glorify or demonize characters, but showed their complexity--the array of flavor notes in each personality.
Though I haven't seen the whole movie (i saw part of it...more
Though I haven't seen the whole movie (i saw part of it...more
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Read in December, 2004
recommends it for:
Everyone
Being at the mercy of my local library, I read the Lansquenet-sous-Tannes Trilogy in the wrong order. Chocolat was last when it should have been first. I enjoyed this as a light, quirky read. Harris invents interesting characters and recognises that even the most "ordinary" people can make interesting stories.
Vianne Rocher is the catalyst for many events and changes in the tiny village, dividing opinion and opening the eyes of many to the good and bad things in life both in t...more
Vianne Rocher is the catalyst for many events and changes in the tiny village, dividing opinion and opening the eyes of many to the good and bad things in life both in t...more
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Read in March, 2006
Funny, funny, funny. That's I think after reading this book. The book is full of humor.
It's about Vianne Rocher, a young mother who open a chocolatier, La Celeste Praline, in a small town named Lansquenet-sous-Tannes in France. It was the sixties. She was an adventurer who wanted to try stay there. But there were a few people tried to kick her out, especially Pere Francis Reynaud. He thought she brought an ill-wind there. Fortunaltely, Vianne also has her new friends, the ones who made her s...more
It's about Vianne Rocher, a young mother who open a chocolatier, La Celeste Praline, in a small town named Lansquenet-sous-Tannes in France. It was the sixties. She was an adventurer who wanted to try stay there. But there were a few people tried to kick her out, especially Pere Francis Reynaud. He thought she brought an ill-wind there. Fortunaltely, Vianne also has her new friends, the ones who made her s...more
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Read in February, 2008
I liked the style, alternating chapters narrated by the heroine,chocolate shop owner Vianne Rocher, and her nemesis, the village priest. The book creates charming images of creativity and sensitivity on the part of Vianne, contrasted with dark images of guilt and rigidity on the part of the priest. Free spirits versus conforming traditionalists. Love and friendship versus control and manipulation. Color and joie de vivre versus blackness and regret. Hints of deeper mystery in the past.
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Read in January, 2008
I had forgotten how good this book was. It's been several years since I read it, but reading its sequel "The Lollipop Shoes" really made me want to read it again as there are so many references to it in there.
It was a phenomenan when it came out, and turned Joanne Harris from an unknown mystery writer to a full-on novelist, let her give up teaching. It mixes the richness of chocolate with the richness of the French countryside and counterposes conformist against alternative life...more
It was a phenomenan when it came out, and turned Joanne Harris from an unknown mystery writer to a full-on novelist, let her give up teaching. It mixes the richness of chocolate with the richness of the French countryside and counterposes conformist against alternative life...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
ethical hedonists like me!
I tore through this book, I was swept up the the decadent imagery, though imagery isn't really the right word. Sensory assault? And a message that meshes with my own way of life. Live. Be happy. Indulge in the things that make you happy, even (at the extreme) if they shorten your life, because they enrich the quality of that life and life is only worth living if it's worth living and see when I try to explain it, it comes out all wrong, but this book says it right. Also, I do love a good battle ...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
choco- Franco-holics
This was one of my "beach reads" last weekend and it was the perfect bonbon of a book for that purpose. This was a very, very quick read but Harris did an incredible job of populating this book with dozens of real characters with complex motives and desires in an economical way. This is a hallmark of a great writer. Her brevity though leaves you wanting more or maybe that's just the chocoholic in me... Desires awakened: I wish there had been a glossary and photos of all the chocolat...more
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شکلات نام یک فیلم ساخته شده توسط میراماکس در سال ۲۰۰۰ (میلادی) است که بر اساس یک رمان از جوان هریس تولید شد. این فیلم داستان خیالی یک مادر (با بازی ژولیت بینوش) را نقل میکند که به همراه دختر شش سالهاش به یک شهر فرضی در فرانسه مهاجرت میکند. او به تولید شکلات مشغول میشود و شکل...more
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Read in May, 2001
Delightful read! I love European flavor, and this book is overflowing with it. Taking place in a quaint little French village some time ago, it's not at all snooty or pretentious as I've found a lot of the French to be.
Of course, it's also much better than the movie with Johnny Depp (though to be honest, just his presence added to the film's magnificence), but seeing the movie doesn't ruin the book for you 'cause they're pretty close together.
I read this at the start of a sweltering summ...more
Of course, it's also much better than the movie with Johnny Depp (though to be honest, just his presence added to the film's magnificence), but seeing the movie doesn't ruin the book for you 'cause they're pretty close together.
I read this at the start of a sweltering summ...more
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A very abstract book filled with colorful descriptions. I really did enjoy a lot of the writing, however the plot itself was a little vague. If you are looking for a clear resolution at the end this is not the book for you. It was a lot of the supporting characters and their story lines that kept me interested in the book. I love how some of them came together to deal with the different situations life had dealt them and in the process healed eachother. Not a favorite but it defintely made m...more
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